The present invention relates mainly to an absorbent article to be used for a sanitary napkin, a vaginal discharge sheet, an incontinence pad, a medical pad, toiletries or the like, and to an absorbent article which fits the body and hardly gets twisted and which follows the motions of the body easily.
In the prior art, the known absorbent article such as the panties liner, the sanitary napkin or the incontinence pad is prepared by interposing an absorbent made of cellulose wadding such as pulverized pulp between a liquid-impermeable back sheet such as a polyethylene sheet or a polyethylene laminated nonwoven fabric and a liquid-permeable surface sheet such as nonwoven fabric or a liquid-permeable plastic sheet.
With a view to preventing the leakage of a body liquid or the like, those absorbent articles are known to have means for improving the fitness properties on various bodies, as disclosed in the following Patent Documents 1 and 2. Specifically in Patent Document 1, a plurality of embossed grooves are formed into the absorbent from the upper face of the same so that the absorbent may be folded along the curve of the body of the wearer. Thus, the absorbent is improved in its fitness to the curved body surface thereby to prevent the leakage.
In Patent Document 2, on the other hand, the absorbent is provided on the side of its skin abutting face with a crown portion, which is narrower than the absorbent and bulges. This crown portion is composed of a front crown portion and a back crown portion, which are formed separately of each other in front of and at the back of the absorbent article. Between these front and back crown portions, there is formed a fold starting point, which prevents the deformations of the front portion and the back portion from influencing each other. As a result, the deformations of the front portion and the back portion are kept away from any mutual influence.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2006-149413
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2006-239162